Kindergarten Sample Literacy Block Allotted General Examples of Specific Activities Time Description • Introduce new letter/sound • Review previously learned letters/sounds Letters, Sounds, • Make/build words with sounds already learned Making/blending 30-40 • Introduce new high-frequency words words, High- minutes frequency words, • Review previously learned high-frequency words Fluency w/skills • Play word/sound wall game(s) • Use letter/sound fluency activities • Use word fluency activities • Introduce new skill 10-15 Phonological • Review previously-learned skill(s) minutes awareness • Play game with skill(s) (pocket chart games, kinesthetic movement games, etc.) • Introduce strategy to be focused on • Read a text aloud to reinforce this strategy – stop occasionally to think aloud about how you’re using strategy as you read text 20-25 • Use a graphic organizer to help students organize information/ Comprehension minutes thinking • Have students write/draw something related to their using the strategy (e.g., main idea sentence, summary, question they have, word they had difficulty understanding, mental image(s) they created as you read) • Introduce 2-4 words each day and preteach them using student- friendly definitions, examples, nonexamples, visuals, etc. Read aloud 10-15 focused on • Read text (or part of text) aloud with these words in it; stop when minutes vocabulary come to word and review word’s meaning in context • After reading, review words using graphic organizer or other activity (role playing, drawing a picture of word, etc.) • Work with struggling students every day on phonological awareness, letters, sounds, high-frequency words, reading connected texts (e.g., decodable texts) 30-45 Small groups & • Work with more independent readers every other day on reading minutes Centers fluency, vocabulary, & comprehension • Utilize centers that cut across the reading components (P.A., phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) & writing – SEE CENTERS DOCUMENT FOR SPECIFIC IDEAS • Introduce/review some aspect of writing • Read a text to illustrate this aspect of writing – as you read, stop occasionally to discuss this aspect of writing 15-20 • Guide students by writing your own piece with their help as a whole Writing minutes group – focus on specific aspect(s) of writing • Eventually have students write their own independent piece focusing on specific aspect(s) of writing • Provide mini-lessons on specific aspects of writing with which students need more explicit instruction or practice © 2016 University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency http://buildingrti.utexas.org 1st Grade Sample Literacy Block Allotted General Examples of Specific Activities Time Description • Review previously-learned phonological awareness skill(s) • Play game with PA skill(s) (pocket chart games, kinesthetic Phonological movement games, etc.) Awareness & • Introduce new sound/spelling pattern/morpheme Sounds, 30-50 • Review previously learned sounds/spelling patterns/morphemes Making/blending minutes words, High- • Make/build words with sounds/spelling patterns/morphemes frequency words, already learned Fluency w/skills • Introduce new high-frequency words • Review previously learned high-frequency words • Play word/sound wall game(s) • Use sound fluency activities 10-15 Fluency minutes • Use word/phrase fluency activities • Use partner reading, echo reading, etc. • Introduce strategy to be focused on • Read a text aloud to reinforce this strategy – stop occasionally to think aloud about how you’re using strategy as you read book 20-25 • Use a graphic organizer to help students organize information/ Comprehension minutes thinking • Have students write/draw something related to their using the strategy (e.g., main idea sentence, summary, question they have, words they had difficulty understanding, mental image(s) they created as you read) • Introduce 2-4 words each day and preteach them using student- friendly definitions, examples, nonexamples, visuals, etc. Read aloud 10-15 focused on • Read text (or part of text) aloud with these words in it; stop when minutes vocabulary come to word and review word’s meaning in context • After reading, review words using graphic organizer or other activity (role playing, drawing a picture of word, etc.) • Work with struggling students every day on phonemic awareness, sounds/spelling patterns, making & blending words, high- frequency words, reading connected texts (e.g., decodable) 30-45 Small groups & • Work with more independent readers every other day on reading minutes Centers fluency, vocabulary, & comprehension • Utilize centers that cut across the reading components (P.A., phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) & writing – SEE CENTERS DOCUMENT FOR SPECIFIC IDEAS • Introduce/review some aspect of writing • Read a text to illustrate this aspect of writing – as you read, stop occasionally to discuss this aspect of writing 20-30 • Guide students by writing your own piece with their help as a Writing minutes whole group – focus on specific aspect(s) of writing • Eventually have students write their own independent piece focusing on specific aspect(s) of writing • Provide mini-lessons on specific aspects of writing with which students need more explicit instruction or practice © 2016 University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency http://buildingrti.utexas.org 2nd Grade Sample Literacy Block Allotted General Examples of Specific Activities Time Description • Practice more advanced phonemic awareness (e.g., sound deletion) • Introduce new sound/spelling pattern/morpheme Sounds, • Review previously learned sounds/spelling patterns/morpheme Making/blending 30-45 • Make/build words with sounds/spelling patterns/morphemes learned words, High- minutes frequency words, • Introduce new high-frequency words Fluency w/skills • Review previously learned high-frequency words • Play word/sound wall game(s) • Use word/phrase fluency activities • Have students make predictions about what they will learn on Monday • Conduct timed readings on Monday (cold) and Friday (final) and have Fluency 10 students graph words per minute w/partner minutes • On other days (Tues-Thurs) have students reread passage 1-3 times for reading different purposes – to answer multiple-choice questions, to do retell, to focus on reading with expression, to record and listen to themselves read, to figure out the main idea of a paragraph, etc. • Introduce strategy to be focused on • Read a text aloud to reinforce this strategy – stop occasionally to think aloud about how you’re using strategy as you read text 25 • Use a graphic organizer to help students organize information/thinking Comprehension minutes • Have students write something related to their using the strategy (e.g., main idea sentence, summary, question they have, words they had difficulty understanding, mental image(s) they created as you read) • Have students practice using strategy/strategies in cooperative groups to discuss and practice effective thinking with support • Introduce 2-4 words each day and preteach them using student-friendly definitions, examples, nonexamples, visuals, etc. Read aloud 10-15 focused on • Read text (or part of text) aloud with these words in it; stop when come minutes vocabulary to word and review word’s meaning in context • After reading, review words using graphic organizer or other activity (role playing, drawing a picture of word, etc.) • Work with struggling students every day on phonemic awareness, sounds/spelling patterns, making & blending words, high-frequency words, reading connected texts (decodable or other), comprehension 30-45 Small groups & • Work with more independent readers every other day on reading minutes Centers fluency, vocabulary, & comprehension • Utilize centers that cut across the reading components (P.A., word study/recognition, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) & writing – SEE CENTERS DOCUMENT FOR SPECIFIC IDEAS • Introduce/review some aspect of writing • Read a text to illustrate this aspect of writing – as you read, stop occasionally to discuss this aspect of writing 20 -30 • Guide students by writing your own piece with their help as a whole Writing minutes group – focus on specific aspect(s) of writing • Eventually have students write their own independent piece focusing on specific aspect(s) of writing • Provide mini-lessons on specific aspects of writing with which students need more explicit instruction or practice © 2016 University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency http://buildingrti.utexas.org 3rd Grade Sample Literacy Block Allotted General Examples of Specific Activities Time Description • Practice more advanced phonemic awareness (e.g., sound deletion) Sounds, • Introduce sound/spelling pattern/morpheme 20-30 Making/blending • Review previously learned sounds/spelling patterns/morphemes minutes words, Fluency • Make/build words with sounds/spelling patterns/morphemes learned w/skills • Play word/sound wall game(s) • Use word/phrase fluency activities • Have students make predictions about what they will learn on Monday • Conduct timed readings on Monday (cold) and Friday (final) and have Fluency 10 students graph words per minute w/partner minutes • On other days (Tues-Thurs) have students reread passage 1-3 times for reading different purposes – to answer multiple-choice questions, to do retell, to focus on reading with expression, to record and listen to themselves read, to figure out the main idea of one paragraph, etc. • Introduce strategy to be focused on • Read a text aloud to reinforce